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AIBU?

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Aibu to ban him from dating girls online

35 replies

Mumof16 · 24/10/2026 03:11

My ds is 16 and he keeps getting dumped by girls who cheat on him. I don’t know what to do about this. He mostly meets them online, they chat for hours. It’s quite sweet, I’ve heard many of their chats. It’s just gentle getting to know each other stuff. He’s very kindly. They might meet a few times irl over the course of a few months. For example they met online, through friends of friends . They chat on phone. They end up as girlfriend and boyfriend. They meet maybe once or twice a month. Then, Every single time, the girl cheats on him with another boy. He’s been told usually by the other boys. How will this impact him?
What should I do? Aibu to ban him from going out with girls online?

OP posts:
Lou2026 · Yesterday 18:19

With respect, depending on what culture/religion you adhere to you cannot police a 16 yr old boy!
As a parent I wouldnt necessarily condone online dating at that age, does he have real life friends to go out with and meet people in real life? Something a bit sad about a 16 yr old online dating for a variety of reasons. You also say they chat and maybe meet once or twice a month? This probably isnt helping.

Get him out the house meeting real people, playing sports etc.

Thepeopleversuswork · Yesterday 18:47

Honestly you need to extricate yourself from his life a bit and let him figure it out.

Teenage relationships are ludicrously fickle: as they should be. The last thing you would want would be for him to talk about going steady and settling down at this age.

Far better for him to learn in the relatively low risk environment of online. Yes it is going to be painful but he will learn.

SomersetBrie · Yesterday 18:49

Cakencookieobsessed · 25/10/2026 05:18

It's not online dating then, is it?

How it is different?

TwisterSpice · Yesterday 18:56

Cakencookieobsessed · 25/10/2026 05:18

It's not online dating then, is it?

Of course it is. It’s dating…online. The term is not ‘website specific online dating’.

zoeslim · Yesterday 19:14

FHG its part of growing up

Truinio · Yesterday 19:17

Cakencookieobsessed · 25/10/2026 05:18

It's not online dating then, is it?

How would you describe meeting people online with the aim of forming a romantic attachment then?

Sunshineandgrapefruit · Yesterday 19:22

Yeah my DD is 15. She's not allowed social media, she's definitely not having dating apps next year. What happened to meeting people irl?

Dreamingofdisneypt2 · Yesterday 20:43

I’d chat to him and try make him see that meeting people online isn’t exactly real life most of the time. At 16 he should be out with his friends from school meeting up with kids from other schools and hanging with them which may develop into a relationship. Sending a message or 2 to someone online and seeing them maybe 2 times a month isn’t dating. They’d need to see each other eat least once a week imo before labelimg it a relationship. No wonder the girls are ‘cheating’ on him they want attention and he’s not there giving what they want!

id encourage him to try meet people in school/college/clubs etc and just hang with them to get to know them better before deciding who is girlfriend material.

CherryBlossom321 · Yesterday 20:51

I haven’t let my teens talk to randoms online. Could be any old perv!

Truinio · Yesterday 20:55

Sunshineandgrapefruit · Yesterday 19:22

Yeah my DD is 15. She's not allowed social media, she's definitely not having dating apps next year. What happened to meeting people irl?

Teenagers don’t online date using dating apps. It’s via Snapchat, discord, instagram, WhatsApp etc.

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